As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
I used to go with my late DH's family every year. In itself that's not a bad thing, but his DN would also come. He's 11 yrs. older than my DD. He was the one who tryed to tell the rest of us where to go and which rides to go on. We couldn't go off by ourselves or leave to go back to the resort because we stayed off property. We still had fun but were really tired at the end of the day. There were other trip after we started going by ourselves where one or the other of us got sick but we never had a completely bad trip.
Liz
Well I had two times at Disney that were less then magical!! But it certainly was not the fault of Disney!!!
I once went with a friend who could make up his mind. When it was his turn to pick a ride he would just stand there and talk about all the rides!!! And then not pick one. Come
on Kim pick a ride allready. There are no bad rides and we are only here for one day with you!!!!
The second time was at Disney World. During a major rain storm at Epcot my fractured ankel decided to act up. For a while I just stood there in the rain and pain and couldn't move very well at all.
But like most people here I just love anything related to Mortimer Mouse!!!! (Man I sure am glad he changed that name to Micky!!)
One of our first trips was just after we had a major hurricane here in the islands and we were lucky to even get out... we were so ecstatic to arrive in WDW where there was power and everything was bright and shiney. I pulled a muscle in my back at our airport while handling our luggage and was lying on ice in our room at the All Star Sports on our first night. The phone rang and it was my DH calling from the lobby asking if our 5 year old son was with me! I replied, no... he was supposed to be with you playing in the arcade!! He had been in the arcade playing with dad when dad got a little too absorbed in his racing game and DS wandered off and decided to find his way back to the room. Well I was so upset, I ran out to the balcony clad only in my towel to see if I could see him approaching the hotel and the door shut behind me locking me out!!! On the balcony at the All Star Sports in my towel wondering where my 5 year old son was when the two of them showed up together...
A comedy really! I have never had a bad time at WDW!!
This past July when DD and I went back to WDW with my parents, she and I were at Epcot and I noticed that her finger was massively swollen. She was wearing a mood ring that she had gotten at the local pizza restaurant. Turns out that the Florida heat had made the finger swell and her ring was not big enough to allow for the swelling.....We ended up leaving Epcot early and then visiting the ER at Celebration Hospital for about an hour while they cut the ring off of her. We had one day left on our Park Hopper passes and we decided not go back to the park the next day. Since we had purchased the no expiration option, we now have 1 say left on our tickets to use in te future. We have an excuse to go back.
None of the challenges we faced 2003 trip to WDW Riverside were due to Disney. It was Uncle Sam, Mother Nature, the Airport, my parents, and my children.
First the trip was planned well in advanced and I invited my then 14yo sister to join us. We lived in Panama City, FL at that time and she lived in Columbus, Ohio. (I have 2 boys now 17 & 14). Well, Mom couldn't decide to send her and let her fly on her own...... last minute add to our ressie.
Then two days prior to us leaving the Air Force tells my DH that he has to go to training in 5 days. BUMMMER! Can't get out of it. So we drive 2 vehicles in the sheets of pouring rain 6+ hours to WDW. I had a migraine all the way there. YUCK!
DH spent one night with us and drove back home. That day I had to p/u sister at MCO. What a nightmare. My kids were searched for the first time. My 17yo is autistic, and was freaked out, b/c I was not right beside him. They had me two stations over and would not listen. My 14 yo was inbetween trying to console him. We got through it. Late arriving flight, hurry up and wait, and wait.......
Four days of 3 teens and me and many headaches. The kids didn't always agree with me or each other with the plans. I rained almost every day. Otherwise we dredged on. Riverside is really kinda beautiful in the drizzling rain.
Of all our trips that was the only one that has "bad" memories.
As I mentioned in my introduction, the family went to WDW in January of 07. My son started it - sick in the car the entire trip and by the time we got to Coronado Springs.. Yeah.... The flu was rampant in the family. My niece got ill in every fountain she could hang her head in (much to my embarassment) and our first day of touring the parks was cancelled. Next, my mother came down with the flu, and while some of us got to the parks, she was left to eat chicken soup and have Disney personnel checking on her. Dad then got it, and finally my husband. Everyone was worried I would get it on the drive home (Because I was driving) but no... I was the only smart one to have the flu shot.
I can't say we had a B A D time.... just that we were disappointed in the sickness. Disney personnel were extremely good to us. Never charged us for the soups they sent to our rooms and offered to wash anything that might have gotten in the path of a sick person. We took home a LOT of washcloth animals.
Believe me - EVERYONE in our family has had their flu shot this year!!!
We also went right after the Sept 11 attacks. Actually, it was only three days after (we had just come off a cruise and didn't have any airline issues) and there was also a tropical storm happening at the same time. The parks were like a ghost town, very empty. We rode everything with no wait. I think the whole mood of the time put a real damper on the trip though. I really just wanted to go home.
We met up with DMIL in 2002. First, let me say she's a great lady and I love her. But sometimes she acts like she's 100 years old and can't walk (unless she's shopping). It got so bad I offered to rent an ECV, but she wouldn't have it. This trip actually prompted our first solo trip a few months later to get the "bad taste" out of our mouths. It's actually kind of funny in retrospect.
We're playing it different for our upcoming anniversary trip though. My D-Folks, DW's D-folks, my brother and his family and DW's siblings and their families will all be there. We're going to publish OUR schedule and tell THEM, "We will be doing X, Y and Z today. If you would like to join us we'd love to have you. If not, we understand."
Just always be careful who you invite along. that's all i'm saying.
If it's just me and my little family we are great, but get others involved, then the people pleaser in me kicks in and I have a hard time trying to make sure everyone has fun and gets what they want. (65 and 5 are very different in what they want to do).
I know now that I can't travel with others. Call it a personality flaw. I am not a "the more the merrier".
I have not had a bad trip or bad times with my husband and daughter.
Just always be careful who you invite along. that's all i'm saying.
If it's just me and my little family we are great, but get others involved, then the people pleaser in me kicks in and I have a hard time trying to make sure everyone has fun and gets what they want. (65 and 5 are very different in what they want to do).
I know now that I can't travel with others. Call it a personality flaw. I am not a "the more the merrier".
I have not had a bad trip or bad times with my husband and daughter.
Initially I was going to reply that I have never had a bad time on a trip to WDW then I read nanpchef's post and it reminded me of one of our family trips to WDW.
Let's just say it was less than pleasant, lots of bickering going on with two family members, nothing out of the ordinary actually just stuff you don't want to deal with while on vacation trying to have a wonderful time.
BUT we still had a good time, in spite of it all!
We certainly won't repeat that mistake again, you couldn't pay me enough.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Thanks to WDWFan, I've been jingled!
ANGIE
Linear Mode
